Ousted ambassador says she was 'shocked and devastated' after Trump told Ukraine's president she was 'bad news'

The ousted former ambassador to Ukraine told Congress on Friday she was "shocked and devastated" to learn that President Trump had trashed her to a foreign leader.

Marie Yovanovitch, who was dismissed from her position in May 2019 after what she described Friday as a smear campaign against her, spoke about learning in September that Trump in his July call with Ukraine's president called her "bad news" and said she was going to "go through some things." Yovanovitch explained she was not aware of these comments until the rough transcript of the call was publicly released.

"I was shocked and devastated that I would feature in a phone call between two heads of state in such a manner," she said. "... It was a terrible moment. A person who saw me actually reading the transcript said that the color drained from my face. I think I even had a physical reaction. Even now, words fail me."

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Yovanovitch also said she was concerned about Trump's "go through some things" comment in particular, as it "sounded like a threat." During this very same hearing, Trump was trashing Yovanovitch on Twitter, which she called "very intimidating." Brendan Morrow